Regional economic impacts of policy-induced changes in agricultural production: an example for the texas coast

Industrial regulation remains unavoidable in the continued effort to assure protection of the environment. The Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990, a renewal of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, are but one example of that ongoing regulation. This study of a region in the Texas Coastal Bend can serve as a reminder that there are trade offs between environmental issues and economic issues that result from changes in regulation, although it is often difficult to quantify them. Results from a farm-level model's projected impacts of a policy alternative were incorporated into an input-output analysis to observe the economic impacts on a broader spectrum of industrial sectors for a regional economy. A total curtailment of agricultural herbicide and pesticide usage as a hypothetical response to environmental regulation is considered and is projected to 1) lower regional farm-level returns to management and fixed costs by over 37 percent, 2) lower total industrial output by $106 million, 3...